Switzerland help

I have a possible opportunity to go to Zurich on business in early March and would love to tag on a few days for some skiing before or after.

Need assistance in deciding where to go...

For sentimental reasons, I am partial to Gstaad as that is where my godmother lived and I remember visiting as a child. However, from what I gather, the skiing is only so, so.

I am an advanced to baby expert skier, not extreme, but not happy with a lot of gentle groomers. I like to ski off-piste, so looking for someplace where a guided group or guide for hire would be available without taking my life's savings. I should add that quality of snow is more important to me than outrageous terrain.

My husband may or may not be skiing by then as he is trying to resolve some quite serious back issues. If he is skiing, he'll be on intermediate groomers. If he's not skiing, it would be good to have a village that will keep him entertained. We are both older, so not looking for a raucous nightlife scene.

From Zurich - Engelberg is probably the main "big mountain" type resort - plenty of mildish offpiste as well as more extreme though you probably need to get in a guiding group as there are terrain traps and higher up glaciated terrain. Monastery, cheese factory, striking distance of Lucerne for non skiers.

Davos/Klosters probably a reliable bet.

Heading across the border the Arlberg/Voralberg resorts (St Anton, Lech etc) are in striking distance.

I think it's a bit further than Engelberg, but I enjoyed the Jungfrau region. We stayed in Interlaken and took the train up. From there, you can ski around to several little towns and there's plenty of varied terrain. They also have the longest world cup DH course there if you're feeling frisky.

You may want to consider Flims Laax Falera. It's about 1 hour 30 minutes from Zurich by car and I'm sure there is rail service.

I lived in Stuttgart GE 2010-2012 and skied Flims late Dec 2010, in what was a poor snow year for the Alps. It was completely open. It's a huge ski area interconnecting the three towns Flims Laax Falera with plenty of variety of terrain, to include in-bounds off-piste and plenty of intermediate runs. We stayed in Laax. Each town has its own feel. Flims is the busiest and largest, Falera more for families, and Laax sort of in-between.

As others have mentioned, you've got lots of options from Zurich. Since the dates are determined by the business trip, you can book the flights now but hold off on booking the skiing until the last minute. Early/mid March aren't hugely busy times in the Alps, so you can wait to see who's got the best conditions and then book there.

If you enjoy train rides, you can get to Engelberg, Andermatt, Arosa, Davos, and St. Anton on the train from Zurich.

Thanks everyone! Great idea of booking the flights and waiting on the area depending on snow conditions. I also really like the idea of going over the border to Austria (that's where I was born).

The train to St. Anton takes about 2:20 and is direct from Zurich Central, so it's quite convenient to get to. Also, the town has a fair amount of non-skiing activities for your husband, like indoor swimming/spa, ice skating, indoor climbing wall, and indoor tennis. It's easy to sign up with off-piste groups run by the ski school (off-piste guides are employees of the ski school rather than a separate company), so they've got you covered.

If there are not Holidays going on when you are in Zurich, you might want to just wait to see where conditions are best. We did a trip a few years back to Lech in early March. We met a couple that just drove down from Germany, that had not booked anything, and just went to the Tourism Office in Lech, and checked what was available. However, if it's a school break time you might want to consider booking something in advance. St Anton/Lech is a great area with lots of varied terrain to explore for a few days.